


The Vulnerable Link

by CantStopTheWork



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: Bruce/Batman centric, Character Study, Flashbacks, Gen, Looking at being human among gods, Metropolis Destruction, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:54:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23920036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CantStopTheWork/pseuds/CantStopTheWork
Summary: Because in an age of heroes, sometimes such exceptionalism highlights your own inadequacies.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 23





	The Vulnerable Link

NOTE: Something I needed to think through after watching this scene in Batman v Superman

“It's not just children who need heroes.”  
― Tamora Pierce

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

You never forget the time, place, even the smells around you when something extraordinary happens. Even if that extraordinary thing is the complete destruction of a major metropolitan city. 

He’s begun controlling his breathing, already hyperaware that he’d had some espresso just 45 minutes prior to their approach. With his adrenaline racing as each sonic boom pulses from the craft hovering over Metropolis, he needs to keep his heart rate and breathing regulated. If not, he’s liable to start moving into anxiousness rather than natures fight or flight response that’s always given him the edge in a fight. He’s facing an unknown here, and any added stressor is not ideal. 

The helicopter is close to the dock; he can see the car. 

“Sir, are you sure about this? We should leave, those are F-16s buzzing over us!” The pilot yells, he’s been on the Wayne company payroll for just over 2 years. A former Apache pilot, it’s mostly why he selected him for the job. When it comes to being in the air, steady hands and minds prevail. 

Bruce looks over at him, he’s got to provide reassurance even if he has none for himself. The kid still looks sharp, rattled, but still with his head in the game. Good.

He hollers back over the helicopter’s loud blades, “Yes, I’ve got to get down there, I need to make sure that Wayne Financial get’s evacuated!”. And wasn’t that the kicker. He’d known over time that the better market to hire and maintain his staff was in Metropolis. So a good 12 years ago he’d moved the office to the heart of the city’s downtown. And the hiring was as expected, they’d even started a rotational program for kids just getting out of college. And there’s the rub, there’s kids half his age sitting at those desks, looking out the window as the city is pummeled around them. 

“You’ve got it sir, touch down in 1 minute!” 

Bruce can see the debris getting closer to the outer limits of the city. “Don’t land, just touch down and I’ll jump out! Get back in the air and clear the area!” 

He’s got his grip on the handle of the door and the edge of the helicopter’s frame. His breathing is picking up in anticipation. There’s no time, when it touches down he has to grab the key fob from the security personnel on the dock and get in the car. There’s no time. 

“Now sir! We are touching down!”

He’s halfway out the door, tossing the headset back after the “sir”. 

“Mike! The keys!” 

Mike’s eyes are on the horizon of debris still floating and falling. He’s so distracted by the chaos in front of him that Bruce has to shake him to get his attention. Mike’s nowhere near coherent when he says his name and apologizes for not hearing him. 

Keys in hand Bruce hops into the Jeep. Thank god there’s a moonroof to the vehicle. 

Getting on the road isn’t difficult at the dock. But each minute further in the potholes and smashed concrete grows. On a normal day, from the dock where he’d been dropped off it would take him about 15-20 minutes to get to the office. He’s hoping that he’s got enough time to make it. 

There’s not time to try and sync his phone to the car’s display, no hand eye coordination to spare, so he grabs his phone and pulls his contacts list up. While there are many Jack’s in the world and in his contact’s list, Jack O’Dwyer is unforgettable to him. It was several years ago, he’d had a particularly rough week, and Jack took one look at him in a quarterly financial meeting and said “Nothing more can be said here that can’t be said driving some golf balls off of a deck.” 

Click

“Jack!”  
“Bruce?”  
“Jack! Listen to me, I want you to get everyone out of the building right now. Do you understand?”  
There’s sounds, Jack’s calling out to people telling them to leave. But before he can get him back on the phone the lines disconnected. He’s momentarily frustrated but has to pay attention to his own surroundings. He can only hope his personnel can hustle down the stairs quickly. 

There’s a crash at the intersection, he has to change course and turn a sharp right. It will add another minute to his frantic commute down this path, but not even to the next light suddenly an F-16 has plummeted and crashed into the building near him, he makes another fast turn left, the car feels heated momentarily as he just passes the blaze before it consumes the area behind him. 

He’s in a side alley, acutely aware that he’s off track and trying to regroup back onto the main route.

BOOM

His eyes dart above all he can do is keep his grip tight on the wheel as the buildings start to cave inwards. A ship, a massive ship is splitting the buildings on either side of him. He can tell this path won’t last long as it’s speed is greater than his own and quickly turns off at the next intersection. 

He’s just gotten back to the main route to the office, and he thinks again to himself, on a normal day, I’m 5 minutes out.

But this is where his journey in the Jeep ends. Everyone and everything has stopped. There’s no pulses that had become this steady thrum in the background as he swerved his way closer. There’s nothing plummeting from sky right now. Just a suspension of animation as they wait for the next shoe to drop. 

He’s out of the vehicle, joining the masses as he waits for what’s about to happen. Suddenly there’s a faint jet propulsion, a spark across the alien ship floating above and then a massive pulse. The crowd shudders at it, and turns back to watch in horrified fascination as the ship seems to start caving inwards. But Bruce can’t wait, this has no meaning for him other than it might not be over yet. 

He’s running in a sea of people standing still. He’s 3 minutes out now. 

He’s rounded the corner, a corner he’s taken many times on a quick jaunt to grab coffee from the local shop. His hand has his phone out and scrolling, pressed to call Jack O’Dwyer. 

“Your call cannot be completed at this time” he’s staring at the building. It’s in front of him. He’s there. He’s right there. And suddenly beams of light are piercing through the building in every which direction. 

He’s hoping, he’s praying for those split seconds that it wasn’t enough to compromise the building’s structural integrity. But it starts to give. He’s running, he’s running and screaming, crying out because it’s just 2 minutes until he’s at the building. 

And then he’s engulfed in a cloud of the building’s ashes. Engulfed into a world of destruction, pain and suffering. What is there to do in the face of all that misery, but to search and help. He’s got a new task, keep his mind and hands busy, because he’s sure, that he’ll never make the last minute to the building. 

“Batman? Batman? Ba- Bruce?”

There’s a hand on his shoulder. He’s being grounded, it’s good that he’s being grounded, because all he smells right now is vaporized plaster and all he’s hearing are the distant wails of sirens and desperate pleas of victims. 

“Bruce.” The voice, they’re saying his name with misery. It’s just after noon, they’re in San Francisco. People should be out, getting lunch, taking advantage of the good weather on this fall day, but for blocks it’s destruction. 

“Green Lantern, we need you to start moving debris! There’s civilians trapped!” Superman, it’s his voice. He’s the one with his hand on him, grounding him. There’s a team, moving around him. He glances over, he catches Diana’s gaze. She’s got a frown on her face, of worry, looking at him. Lines drawn on her brow over him. There’s a flicker out of the corner of his eye, the Flash, Barry, he’s moving into the destruction. Soon he’s seeing green beams of light lifting massive pieces of rubble. 

“Bruce.” He turns, he’s looking at Superman now. And Clark’s gaze, his eyes. He looks so sad, so worn down as if the weight of the world was suddenly put on his shoulders. Maybe it has. 

“Where’s your mind at?” The question throws him a little, because while said with such concern, all he can think is, not here. 

But while Bruce isn’t here, that he’s still one minute from his building in Metropolis, Batman is in San Francisco. And Batman, while incapable of moving piles of rubble with a beam of light, is quite capable of coordinating with local authorities on the recovery plan for the city and it’s people. 

“I’m here.”  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ NOTE: The opening scene in Batman v Superman is powerful, including the score for it, Their War Here. I think many elements of DC touch on the devastation that this type of destruction brings (we see it in Batman v Superman, in Justice League, in Supergirl) but it can sometimes get glossed over. Even with jokes like in Justice League when they destroy Gotham Harbor’s tunnel. But not only that, while one can aspire to be a hero and be magnificent, what does it mean to be human and vulnerable? Just a little study into a character’s mindset in a devastating moment of time.


End file.
